SCDSS v. Taylor Wardlaw

THIS OPINION HAS NO PRECEDENTIAL VALUE. IT SHOULD NOT BE
CITED OR RELIED ON AS PRECEDENT IN ANY PROCEEDING
EXCEPT AS PROVIDED BY RULE 268(d)(2), SCACR.

THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA
In The Court of Appeals

South Carolina Department of Social Services,
Respondent,

v.

Taylor Wardlaw, Appellant.

In the interests of minors under the age of eighteen.

Appellate Case No. 2024-000340

Appeal From Richland County
Mindy W. Zimmerman, Family Court Judge

Unpublished Opinion No. 2024-UP-402
Submitted November 15, 2024 – Filed November 25, 2024

AFFIRMED

Nancy Carol Fennell, of Irmo, for Appellant.

Nicholas Jordan Sharpe, of Ashby Jones and Associates
LLC, of Lexington, for Respondent.

Angela L. Kohel, of Richland County CASA, of
Columbia, for the Guardian ad Litem.
PER CURIAM: Taylor Wardlaw appeals the family court's final order removing
her minor children from her custody, finding she placed the children at a
substantial risk of physical abuse, and authorizing the Department of Social
Services (DSS) to forego reasonable efforts at reunification. See S.C. Code Ann.
§ 63-7-20(6)(a)(i) (Supp. 2024) ("'Child abuse or neglect' or 'harm' occurs when" a
parent "inflicts or allows to be inflicted upon the child physical or mental injury or
engages in acts or omissions which present a substantial risk of physical or mental
injury to the child . . . ."); S.C. Code Ann. § 63-7-1660(E) (2010) (setting forth
findings a family court must make when removing children from the custody of
their parents); S.C. Code Ann. § 63-7-1640(C) (Supp. 2024) (setting forth
situations when a family court may authorize DSS to forego reasonable efforts at
family reunification). Upon a thorough review of the record and the family court's
findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to Ex parte Cauthen, 291 S.C.
465, 354 S.E.2d 381 (1987), 1 we find no meritorious issues warrant briefing.
Accordingly, we affirm the family court's ruling.

AFFIRMED. 2

THOMAS, HEWITT, and VINSON, JJ., concur.

1
See also S.C. Dep't of Soc. Servs. v. Downer, S.C. Sup. Ct. Order dated Feb. 2,
2005 (expanding the Cauthen procedure to situations when "an indigent person
appeals from an order imposing other measures short of termination of parental
rights").
2
We decide this case without oral argument pursuant to Rule 215, SCACR.